Countdown to Ecstasy
Studio album by Steely Dan
Released	July, 1973
Recorded	Early 1973, Village Recorder, Santa Monica, CA, Caribou Ranch, Nederland, CO
Genre	Rock
Length	41:04
Label	ABC Records
Producer	Gary Katz
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (A) link Rolling Stone link
Steely Dan chronology
Can't Buy a Thrill (1972) Countdown to Ecstasy (1973) Pretzel Logic (1974)

Countdown to Ecstasy is the second album by rock group Steely Dan, released in July 1973. The album was written and recorded in rushed sessions between live concerts and produced two Billboard Hot 100 hits, "Show Biz Kids" and "My Old School," which have continued to be popular both on radio and in concert. Despite not being the huge hit that their previous album Can't Buy a Thrill was, lead vocalist Donald Fagen reportedly declared Countdown to Ecstasy his favorite Steely Dan album.

The album was originally released in two-channel stereo and also in a special four-channel quadrophonic mix. There are some significant musical differences between the two mixes.

The song "My Old School" was reportedly inspired by an incident during some of the band members' college attendance. In its March 24, 2006 edition, Entertainment Weekly details a return trip to Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York by Donald Fagen, in which he describes a raid by sheriff's deputies in May 1969.^[1] Fagen, Steely Dan bandmate Walter Becker, and some 50 other students were arrested. Charges were dropped, but the harassment was the origin of the grudge alluded to in "My Old School." Fagen was reportedly so upset with the school being complicit with the arrests that he refused to attend graduation. The same article speculates that a Bard professor's wife, Rikki Ducornet, was the inspiration for "Rikki Don't Lose That Number."

A live version of the song "Bodhisattva" was used as the B-side for both of the band's 1980 singles, "Hey Nineteen" and "Babylon Sisters."

Both "Bodhisattva" and "My Old School" are playable tracks in the video game Rock Band 2.

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Side one 1.2 Side two 2 Personnel 3 Production 4 Charts 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Becker and Fagen.

[edit] Side one

1. "Bodhisattva" – 5:19
2. "Razor Boy" – 3:11
3. "The Boston Rag" – 5:40
4. "Your Gold Teeth" – 7:02

[edit] Side two

5. "Show Biz Kids" – 5:25
6. "My Old School" – 5:47
7. "Pearl of the Quarter" – 3:50
8. "King of the World" – 5:04

[edit] Personnel

Steely Dan

• Donald Fagen - piano, electric piano, synthesizer, vocals
• Walter Becker - electric bass, harmonica, vocals
• Ray Brown - string bass on "Razor Boy"
• Denny Dias - guitar, Stereo Mixmaster General
• Jeff "Skunk" Baxter - guitar, pedal steel guitar
• Ben Benay - acoustic guitar
• Rick Derringer - slide guitar on "Show Biz Kids"
• Jim Hodder - drums, percussion, vocals
• Victor Feldman - vibes, marimba, percussion
• Ernie Watts - saxophone
• Johnny Rotella - saxophone
• Lanny Morgan - saxophone
• Bill Perkins - saxophone
• Sherlie Matthews - background vocals
• Myrna Matthews - background vocals
• Patricia Hall - background vocals
• David Palmer - background vocals
• Royce Jones - background vocals
• James Rolleston - background vocals
• Michael Fennelly - background vocals
• Jake Richardson - cowbell

[edit] Production

• Producer: Gary Katz
• Engineer: Roger Nichols
• Assistant engineer - Miss Natalie
• Album design: Dotty of Hollywood
• Photography: Ed Caraeff

Reissue

• Reissue Producers: Walter Becker, Donald Fagen
• Remastering engineer: Roger Nichols
• Reissue design: Red Herring Design, New York City
• Consultant: Daniel Levitin

[edit] Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1973	Pop Albums	35

Pop Singles

Year	Single	Label & number	Position
1973	"My Old School" (B-side: "Pearl Of The Quarter)	ABC 11396	63
1973	"Show Biz Kids" (B-side: "Razor Boy")	ABC 11382	61

[edit] References

1. ^ Back to Annadale

[edit] External links

• Complete lyrics

v • d • e Steely Dan Walter Becker • Donald Fagen Jeff "Skunk" Baxter • Denny Dias • Jim Hodder • Michael McDonald • David Palmer • Jeff Porcaro • Royce Jones Studio albums Can't Buy a Thrill (1972)  • Countdown to Ecstasy (1973)  • Pretzel Logic (1974)  • Katy Lied (1975)  • The Royal Scam (1976)  • Aja (1977)  • Gaucho (1980)  • Two Against Nature (2000)  • Everything Must Go (2003) Live albums Alive in America • Plush TV Jazz-Rock Party Compilations Greatest Hits • Steely Dan • Gold • A Decade of Steely Dan • Reelin' In the Years • Do It Again • Citizen Steely Dan • Then and Now • Showbiz Kids • Definitive Collection Songs "Do It Again" • "Reelin' In the Years" • "Dirty Work" • "My Old School" • "Pretzel Logic" • "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" • "Charlie Freak" • "Bad Sneakers" • "Kid Charlemagne" • "The Royal Scam" • "Black Cow" • "Aja" • "Deacon Blues" • "Peg" • "Home at Last" • "FM (No Static At All)" • "Hey Nineteen" • "Time Out of Mind" • "Babylon Sisters" • "Everything You Did" • "Cousin Dupree" • For more, see discography. Related articles Discography • Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz with guests Steely Dan